Percussion instruments such as drums and cymbals have been made and used for many years to produce pleasing sounds. However, conventional drums require a stretched membrane attached to a hollow cylinder to produce rhythm sounds. The membrane may require periodic readjustment to provide the correct tones. Such drums are often rather large and cumbersome to transport.
Attempts have been made to increase the volume output of an acoustical drum without increasing the size of the drum by placing microphones adjacent to the drums. Microphone placement depends on a number of factors including room dimensions and the directional aspects of the microphone relative to the drum head. Accordingly, a user may have to readjust the microphone periodically for a particular location. Furthermore, only the vibratory sound of the drumhead is amplified by such microphone placement without much amplification of the resonant components of the sound. Placing the microphone inside a conventional drum provides amplification of a mixture of vibratory sounds that are not pleasingly acceptable to a hearing audience.
As electronics have become more sophisticated, synthesizers have been developed to simulate the sound of conventional percussion instruments such as drums and cymbals. However, such electronic percussion instruments require a computer and software to convert sounds produced by striking a surface into pleasing sounds similar to those obtained by conventional drums and cymbals. Typically, such synthesizers do not include acoustic components.
Despite advances made in the improvements in percussion instruments, there continues to be a need for simple, percussion instruments having realistic feel and acoustic sound and are adaptable for electronic amplification.
With regard to the foregoing, the disclosure provides an acoustic percussion instrument. The instrument includes a hollow cylindrical shell having a first end and a second end and an inside cylindrical surface. A first substantially rigid plate having an outside surface and an inside surface is attached adjacent to the first end of the hollow cylindrical shell. A first resilient pad, providing a percussion surface that does not require periodic adjustment, is attached to the outside surface of the first substantially rigid plate. A raised resilient rim circumscribes the first resilient pad.
In another embodiment there is provided a acoustic percussion instrument. The dual-headed percussion instrument includes a hollow cylindrical shell having a first end and a second end and an inside cylindrical surface. A first substantially rigid plate having an outside surface and an inside surface is attached adjacent to the first end of the hollow cylindrical shell. A second substantially rigid plate having an inside surface and an outside surface is attached adjacent to the second end of the hollow cylindrical shell. The second substantially rigid plate is thicker than the first substantially rigid plate. A first resilient pad, providing a first percussion surface that does not require periodic adjustment, is attached adjacent to the outside surface of the first substantially rigid plate. A second resilient pad, providing a second percussion surface that does not require periodic adjustment, is attached adjacent to the outside surface of the second substantially rigid plate. A snare simulation element is attached to the inside surface of one or the first or second substantially rigid plates. A raised resilient rim circumscribes at least one the first and second resilient pads.
A further exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides a percussion instrument practice kit. The kit includes a practice pad and sheet music structure having at least one practice pad disposed in a cavity of an enclosure and a cover hingedly attached to the enclosure. The practice pad has a first hollow shell having a first end and a second end and an inside surface. A first substantially rigid plate having an outside surface and an inside surface is attached adjacent to the first end of the first hollow shell. A first resilient pad providing a percussion surface that does not require periodic adjustment is attached adjacent to the outside surface of the first substantially rigid plate. The cover includes a holder for attaching sheet music thereto.
An advantage of the percussion instruments according to the disclosure is the relative simplicity of design. Unlike a conventional drum, there is no thin membrane that requires tensioning or readjustment in order to produce the desired sound. In the disclosed percussion instruments, the resilient pad is fixedly attached to the substantially rigid plate giving the percussion instrument a “pre-tuned” and “pre-tightened” surface that does not require periodic adjustment.
Variation in the substantially rigid plate thickness and size, coupled with the diameter and length dimension of the hollow cylindrical shell and/or with the snare simulation element, provides a characteristic tone and timbre for the percussion instrument. Another advantage is that a different tone and timbre may be produced from a single instrument by altering the components used to construct the instrument.
The practice kit provides versatility with regard to the rehearsal needs of a percussionist. The kit enables improved portability of the practice pad along with a structure for displaying sheet music and for storing percussion sticks used in practice.